Cross-border migration has become increasingly common around the world. As a consequence, more families than ever before reside in a society with a culture different from their own, and therefore face a bicultural situation. Bicultural situations pose challenges for the value socialization of these families, as the values important in their culture of origin may not be adaptable to the new cultural environment (Knafo & Schwartz, 2001). What values do parents in bicultural situations want their children to have (i.e., socialization values)? To answer this question, this research examined the role of perceived norms of values in these parents’ selection of socialization values through three studies carried out in Hong Kong. The results of Study 1 showed that when selecting their socializa...[ Read more ]

Cross-border migration has become increasingly common around the world. As a consequence, more families than ever before reside in a society with a culture different from their own, and therefore face a bicultural situation. Bicultural situations pose challenges for the value socialization of these families, as the values important in their culture of origin may not be adaptable to the new cultural environment (Knafo & Schwartz, 2001). What values do parents in bicultural situations want their children to have (i.e., socialization values)? To answer this question, this research examined the role of perceived norms of values in these parents’ selection of socialization values through three studies carried out in Hong Kong. The results of Study 1 showed that when selecting their socialization values, mainland Chinese immigrant parents referred not only to their own personal values but also to the values they perceived to be normative in the host society. Similarly, the findings of Studies 2 and 3 revealed that ethnic minority parents, primarily of South and Southeast Asian origins, referred to the perceived norms in both their host society and home society. Furthermore, it was also found that parents’ reference to these two sets of perceived norms was a function of their expectations concerning their children’s future place of residence and their own ethnic identity but not their acculturation orientation. The participating parents were more likely to refer to the perceived norms of a society when they had a stronger expectation that their children would reside in that society in the future (Studies 1 and 2). Also, the degree of reference to the perceived norms in the home society was greater among the parents who strongly identified with their ethnic group (Studies 1 and 3). Taken together, these findings offer insights for a better understanding of value socialization in bicultural and even multicultural situations.